Need a Coach? How about a Yogi?

Many people nowadays are hiring coaches to help them change and improve. It’s an age-old resource, probably dating back to the prehistoric sherpas that would guide the tribe over a treacherous mountain pass to a lush green valley beyond.

If you are in search of a coach, consider this alternate approach. Hire Yogi Berra.

Baseball great Lawrence “Yogi” Berra was not just a famous American baseball player. Because of his special way with the English language, he has become a legendary source of wisdom for life. Consider just three examples of classic Yogi Berra-isms, and how these one liners can stimulate the wisdom of your own “inner coach.”

~ “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” – Yogi knew that goals are important in life. Without goals, we are without direction. With goals, we are able to chart a course toward our desires.

~ “You can observe a lot by watching.” – Observing quietly, and listening attentively, are the most fundamental ways to learn. We did that when we were infants. We do that when we are newcomers in a strange place. We can do it anytime we choose to be highly effective listeners.

~ “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” – Yogi understood the importance of action. The forks in the road of life are times of choice. Times to choose a path and go for it.

In Sanskrit, the word yogi refers to a person who “knows that the entire cosmos is situated within his own body” and practices spiritual development techniques such as yoga. An interesting linguistic coincidence? I think not.

This article was written by Terrence Seamon and originally published at HR.BlogNotions on July 16, 2010. For more leadership, management, engagement, and coaching tips like this, check out Terry’s website Facilitation Solutions and his blog Here We Are. Now What?

Comments

Anonymous said…

Terry, thanks for talking on this subject. I've been talking to some folks that seem to have a good story about how they can help coach, but I can't seem to find any information about them at all other than what they want to share. The website is worldwidejobnetwork.com. Have you ever heard of them?

A frazzled cowboy once said, "I'm so busy, I don't know if I found a rope or lost my horse."
Clearly that dazed and confused cowboy is trying to make sense out his situation.
How often, in your life, can you relate to that?
Organizational psychologist Karl Weick wrote some very interesting stuff about human behavior and organization. In one piece, he wrote about a team of smoke-jumpers who were dropped by parachute into a major forest fire. Though highly trained, some things happened that they were unprepared for. As a result, they became disorganized and sadly most of them died.
What happened? Weick wondered if there was a failure of sensemaking. Sensemaking is the process by which people give meaning to what they are experiencing.
Weick's concept of "sensemaking" refers to the mental process of interpreting and constructing the reality we find ourselves in. So defined, we are sensemaking pretty much all the time as we go about our daily lives. Most of…

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Many have endeavored to capture the key ingredients in customer service, so I have decided to throw my hat into the ring as well.

I call my approach Customer Service With HEART:

H = Help and Hear - You are there to Help the customer. Plain and simple. And the first (and most important) thing you do is listen. Hear the customer fully before responding. This may be the toughest part of listening. We have to make the choice to listen, especially when we are busy, preoccupied, stressed, and distracted. When you focus on the Other, pay attention to What is being said, as well as What is not being said. This includes the non-verbal signs the person i…